Universal rolling mill



Sept. 8, 1936.

w. BUcHELs ET AL.-

UNIVERSAL ROLLING MILL 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed April 12, 1935 w. BUcHELs ET Al.A 2,053,694

UNIVERSAL RLLING MILL Filed April 12, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 8, 1936.

Patented Sept. 19.36 i I I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE UNIVERSAL noLLmG MILL Wilhelm Bchels and Rudolf Heinrich Koppel, Aachen, Germany, assignors tol the firm Rhein- Schelde Gesellschaft fr Ingenieurwesen m. b. Il., Aachen, Germany Application April 12, 1933Serlal No. 685,817

Germany April 16, 1932 3 Claims. (Cl. 80-34) Our invention relates to universal rolling mills, through an anglel oi! 180 degs. about its central and-more particularly to universal rolling mills vertical axis. the position f the axes ln'SPaCe. which are equipped with means for actuating th i. e., related to another casing which is still in 1 individual rolls of the mill together. its original position, is staggered with respect to 5 .It is an object of our invention toimprove a their initial position. This has the advantage 5 universal rolling mill of this type. that the roll axes in two housings can be stag- To this end, we provide a driving shaft per roll gered notwithstanding the fact that the housings which is operatively connected to the correspondthemselves are quite Similar. This iS lSO imporing roll, arrange the vdriving shafts laterally with tant for manufacturing and shipping as the inirespect to the axis of the mill and in parallel tial cost of the manufacture is reduced, fewer l0 relation to the axis, and provide means such as spare parts are required and shipping is facilia chain for actuating the driving shafts together. tated. As compared with the old rolling mills in which In the accompanying drawings, a universal mill the individual rolls are actuated by a central embodying our invention, with three individual driving member, a mill according to our invention rolls in a housing, and a chain for driving the 15 has the advantage of low initial cost. Another rolls, iS illustrated by Way 0f example advantage of the decentralized drive by the lat- In the drawings erally arranged driving shafts is that the speed Fig. 1 is an elevation of the mill; with its housof the individual rolls can bevaried in avery siming partly in section on the axis of one of its 4 2g ple manner, for instance, in the case of a chain three rolls, 20

drive, by exchanging one set of sprockets for an- Fig. 2 iS a SectiOn '0n the line :II-11 ill Flg- 1, other set having a different number of teeth. A Fig. 3 shows one of the casings, viewed from chain drive has the additional advantage that the left in Fig..2, and the depth of the housing is much reduced, with Fig. 4 is a section on the line IV-IV in Fig. 3.

a corresponding reduction in the overall length Referring now to the drawings, the housing 25 of a complete mill train. However, we are not has a central casting or body I, with a pair of limited to chain drive but may provide any other end plates 2, 2 which are secured to opposite faces driving means, such as belts, ropes or cables or of the casting l by through bolts 23. The indian internal gear, etc. By way of example, a chain vidual rolls 5, 5a and 5b, with their shafts 4, drive will be shown and described. are mounted to rotate in casings 3. 'Ihe casings 30 In a preferred embodiment of our invention, are divided in the axial plane of their roll shafts each individual roll, with its roll shaft and the 4, each casing having a pair of flanged side plates corresponding driving shaft, is arranged in a cas- 33 and 34, whose flanges'are Connected by SCIeW ing which is adapted to be inserted in the housbolts 3l and two bearings 46 and 41 with thrust 35 ing and to be adjusted by any suitable means, rings 45. Bearings for the driving shafts 9, 9a 35 such as wedges or the like. When it is desired and 8b of the rolls 5, 5a and 5b are arranged at to remove a casing for inspection, repair or exthe Vouter ends of the casings and held by screw change, the driving means must first be detached, bolts 38 'in the extended end portions 35 of the for instance, by separating the chain if such is casings.

40 provided. The roll is then detached from the roll The rolls are held by nuts 6 on the inner ends 40 shaft and the casing can be extracted from the of their shafts 4, and driven by a bevel gear 1 housing for repair, etc. It will appear that in at the outer end of the corresponding shaft 4 with this manner each casing can be removed, for inwhich meshes a bevel gear 81on the Vdriving shaft l stance, if trouble occurs, without disassembling 9, 9a or 9b. The driving shafts are not arranged the complete housing, as is required in the old centrally but laterally with respect to the axis A 45 a universal mills in which in such cases the correof the mill, andextend in parallel relation to the sponding housing is taken from the foundation axis. Rotation is imparted 'to the driving shafts and disassembled which often involves a lay-up from a main driving shaft I4, with a sprocket of several days, so that it is usually preferred to I3, sprockets I0 on the individual driving shafts exchange a damaged housing for another housing 9, 9a and 9h and a chain Il. Guides for the 50 while the damaged one is repaired. chain are shown at I2.

' In the housings according to our invention The axes of all roll shafts 4 are arranged in a which make up a mill train, the axes of the insingle plane in the example illustrated. A housdividual rolls are arranged at such angles to horiing whose shafts are arranged in this manner,

vzontal that by turning one of the housings may be used for a complete mill train, i. e., the 55 housings for the mill train may be identical'and the roll axes are staggered by turning one of the housings throughY 180 degs. with respect to the adjacent housing, about its centralvertical axis. This axis is the unbroken portion of the section line II--II in Fig. 1. When the housing I, 2 is turned anti-clockwise through 180 degs. from the position in Fig. 1, the shaft 9 moves into the position of the shaft 9a in Fig.'-1 and the other shafts perform corresponding displacements in space, so that the shafts 4 of the individual rolls are staggered.

For Vadjusting the casings transversely to the roll shafts 4, we provide wedges I5 which are inserted in suitable grooves .of the casting I with their parallel backs, and with their inclined faces bear on corresponding faces at opposite sides of the casings, -as best seen in Fig. 1. Bolts I6 are attached to the wedges at their outer ends and extend through bores I8 of the easing, and Il are nuts on the ends o f the bolts which project from the outer end of the vextended portion, 35. By rotating the nuts, the bolts I6 are shifted and the wedges I5 are displaced, ee'cting a corresponding displacement of the casing 3. The small amount of transverse displacement which is possible 'with this wedgesystem, is amply'suicient for placing the rolls in the proper position with respect to the work. v

For -holding the casings 3 in their recesses in the casting l, we provide screw bolts 20 in bores I9 of the casings which bores extend in parallel to -the b ores I8 for the bolts I6. The screw bolts 20 are anchored in the castingl at their inner -ends and equipped with nuts on their outer ends at2I which bear on the outer ends of the exten- .sions 35. The position of the bores I8 and I9 is best seen in Fig. 4. Detachable caps 22 protect the outer ends of the casings and the parts projecting therefrom.

For extracting a casing, the corresponding cap 22 and the nuts 2I are removed and the wedges I 5 retracted by the nts'l'l. 'Ihe chain II is separated -which is done -without any difiiculty,

and the casing can now be extracted for any purpose, for instance, repairing the bevel gears l, 8`.

The driving shafts, 9, 9a and 9b also come out with the corresponding casings and the sprockets I0 are accessible.

The overall mechanical efiiciency of the mill is very high as it has few members whose individual mechanical eiliciency is also high. As mentioned, chain drive is particularly favorable as it reduces the depth of the housings. The individual housings of a mill train can be placed in'close vicinity to each other so that the overall length of the train is short in proportion to thenumber of housings it comprises.

Instead of arranging all sets of rolls in a housing in a single plane as illustrated, the rolls might be arranged with the axes of their shafts l in two or more planes, as indicated in Fig. 2 where -b is the plane in which the axes of one set are disposed, and ab' is the plane of the other set. If two or more set's, with the axes of their shafts in several planes, are provided, they may.

all be drivenby a single 'chain or the like, but obviously the housings with their sets in several planes are no longer quite similar. We claim: v

1. In a rolling mill, in combination, a plurality of angularly disposed spindles disposed with their axes in a common plane, rolls mounted upon said spindles and relatively positioned to mutually coact in reducing in external diameter a tube or the like moving along a path normal to the plane of the spindle axes, a relatively narrow housing upon which the said spindles are rotatably mounted, the plane of the roll axes being intermediate the substantially parallel planes of transmission element having a portion intermediate the planes of the sidewall surfaces of the housing, and means also intermediate the planes mounted, the plane of the roll axes being intermediate the substantially parallel planes of the side wall surfaces of the housing, a power transmission element having a portion intermediate the planes of the side wall surfaces of the housing, and an endless member disposed and movable in a plane intermediate .the planes of the side wallsurfaces which operatively connects the power transmission element and the several spindles, whereby the spindles may be simultaneously driven.

3. In a rolling mill, in combination, a plurality of angularly disposed spindles disposed with their axes in a common plane, rolls mounted upon said spindles and relatively positioned to mutually co` act in reducing in external diameter a tube or the like movin'g along a path normal to the plane of the spindle axes, a relatively narrow housing r 4the side Wall surfaces of the housing, a power upon which the said spindles are rotatably' mounted, the plane of the roll axes being intermediate the substantially parallel planes of the side wall surfaces of the housing, a-power transmission element having a portion intermediate the planes of the side wall surfaces of Athe housing, and an endless chain connecting the power -transmission element and the several spindles whereby the spindles may be simultaneously driven, said chain being disposed and movable along a closed path, in a plane intermediate the planes of the side wall surfaces.

WILHELM BUCHELS.

RUDOLF HEINRICH KOPPEL. 

